Fish Catching Travel
Before we get to the fishing. It is my lovely wife Nancy’s birthday. She is the Captain of Team Nancy, and of course she had to work today. How can a fisherman like me ever thank her enough. I mean I am fishing, she is working. I count my blessings everyday that I have her in my life. So Happy Birthday Nancy, you are the best.
It was nice to have things work out according to a plan. Until Chris sent me a text saying he wanted to catch some crappie, the Gulf was the plan. Well things sometimes just happen for a reason, and today worked out great.
I have been saying for several years I need to catch some of Coleto’s crappies, there were supposed to be lots of them. So never having tried it I actually thought about the conditions before I even left the dock. Pre-spawn to spawn and water temperature going from low 50’s to 68 in most places in the last 2 weeks. That tells you all you need to know. Fish shallow.
So we started out tossing at shallow wood with 1/16 jig heads and tube jigs, and Chris did catch a couple on road runners. And it goes without saying it is a 4 or 6lb. line thing. And we caught on several colors, with Chartreuse or white being the best, but it was location, location, location, as it always is with crappie. We just kept moving and while we would catch one here and there, we did manage to hit 2 good places.
Mmmm……Mmmm…..Good!
We did notice a couple of important things this morning. Lots of small brush and branches in the water were best, but we caught some of the bigger ones as individuals on stumps. And that the majority of the crappie were in about 4 foot of water. They were shallow. We just cast to the brush and reeled real slow, hopping it along. They were not smacking it by any means, most of the time they were just there.
Before it was over we caught 24 keepers and one catfish. It was funny though, we did not catch even one small one. They were all keepers, nice and fat. Of course we also caught a bunch of small bass. Keep moving, and if you catch a couple of small bass off a piece of cover, move on. The crappie are either on it, or they are not.
If I did not have the rest of the week planned out I would go to Academy and buy one of those cheap long crappie rods. I would put a couple of jigs on about 5 feet of line and then start dipping. Just moving and dipping, being able to drop the lure right down the side of the wood from 10 foot away would be killer. Another method to get them right now would be using a slip bobber. Jigs work fine, and are a lot cheaper than minnows.
While we were fishing a couple of turkeys were gobbling up a storm. After a little bit first one, and then another, came out and flew over the back of the cove we were fishing. Nothing says spring like turkey gobbling.
About 11 the wind came up, and was actually blowing pretty good, and the crappie had definitely slowed way down. I am not sure where the weatherman came up with the 5 – 10 mph thing, it blew a lot harder than that. Interestingly when we got back to the truck Chris used his phone and looked up the major fishing time for the morning, and it was in the 9 am range, just when we were having the best action. I have always said just because you have a major feeding time does not mean you will catch fish, but it is funny how often when we do have a good run it is during the major feeding period.
It was great to go out with a plan and make it work, and nothing like a crappie filet sizzling in the pan. After catching tons in Arkansas over the years it was like falling off a log. Crappie act the same way seasonally anywhere they live, it is up to us to figure it out. But paying attention to seasonal conditions, no matter what the fish, or where you are, is the starting point every time we hit the water. It was just interesting to apply it to a fish I have not caught in a while and see it work.
So there you have it. For the rest of the week I am going to fish with Johnathon for bass and then wade POC with the Austin bunch. So keep stopping in, looks like my week is shaping up just fine. And Jim, how does this crappie report work for you? Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
